Many end user consumers including residential consumers and business consumers connect to the Internet by way of Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) technologies. With DSL technologies, a service provider provides an end user, or “customer” with access to a Broadband network via a twisted pair telephone line, referred to herein simply as a “line.” The use of such lines to deliver Broadband network content to an end user is beneficial because they have already been implemented throughout much of the world, and thus, Broadband network access requires minimal infrastructure build out between an end user's location and the Broadband network interface.
Because the number of lines may be very great, lines service provides typically attempt to provision lines so that a certain minimal level of line performance and stability is achieved in a manner which will require little, if any, further consideration by the provider. Even where a provider might implement a more active line management program, a lack of insight into a each end user's experiences and demands coupled with the expense of needing to maintain a great number of lines may still result in a “set it to forget it” mentality on the part of a line provider or wholesaler which may ultimately dissatisfy an end user either with respect to perceived quality of service (QOS), etc.
Also, in some locations, a DSL services wholesaler provides DSL communication equipment to form an infrastructure for such services and DSL services resellers sell DSL services (e.g., “Internet access”) delivered over that infrastructure to individual end users. Because the DSL services wholesaler controls the equipment forming the DSL infrastructure and the DSL services reseller maintains a services relationship with the consumers, conflicts exist between a DSL services wholesaler most interested in protecting the integrity of the infrastructure and a DSL services reseller desiring access and control of the equipment for the sake of managing service quality to their end users.
Whether the services are provided to the end customers by the wholesaler or a reseller service provider, the services to the end customers are typically monitored and configured by the DSL service providers management systems, which are in general operated by the wholesaler, and are located in the wholesaler's network (central office (CO), NMS, etc.). Any information from the end customer's equipment is therefore typically collected via the service provider equipment at the CO side, such as DSLAMs (DSL Access Multiplexers), network traffic routers, and gateways.
Furthermore, instructions, control and monitoring messages for controlling, collecting information, and configuring the end user/customer devices on the customer end, are also provided via equipment at the CO side. Such instructions and messages are communicated over information and communication channels provided between the customer side devices, and the service provider equipment. The customer side devices are also known as Customer Premises Equipment (CPE), and devices. An example of these communications channels are TR-69, Internet protocol (IP), Embedded Operational Channel (EOC), SNMP.
There are many instances, where certain information is not provided from the customer side to the service provider side. For example, there is limited bandwidth provided for the control communication channels between the customer devices and the service provider equipment, therefore limited information is exchanged between the customer devices and the service provider equipment. Furthermore, the customer devices are exposed to impairments on the CPE side, such as noise, interference (radio interference, impulse noise) etc., which may not be readily deduced from the service provider side. As another example, where an ILEC (Incumbent Local Exchange Carrier) operating a central office (CO) might implement line management at the CO side of the Line, a CLEC (Competitive Local Exchange Carrier) may assume the role of a third party with respect to line management via the CPE side, particularly where the CLEC leases line capacity and may lack any access to the central office (CO) side.
There could also be limitations on the CO side for provisioning or configuring the DSL system. For example, there are limitations with respect to how information and settings are managed by certain types of DSLAMs. For example, the range of parameter settings within certain types of DSLAMs may not comply with established industry specifications, or the DSLAM Management Information Base (MIB) or certain parameters within the MIB might not be accessible. In other instances, the DSLAM MIB might not allow the range of certain parameters to be changed. These limitations would prevent provisioning, improving or optimizing the performance of DSL connections.
The present state of the art may benefit from embodiments of the present invention by providing an interface to the lines through which line performance may be enhanced and/or line problems diagnosed.